Kidlit Celebrates Women's History Month: a celebration blog. Peek: "We are fortunate to have many resources for our children to learn about
women's history, everything from fabulous biographical picture books about remarkable women from the past to historical novels, to fascinating history books written especially for young people. We hope
this blog will help you identify some of these resources, learn about new books on women's history, and enjoy reflections by some distinguished authors in the field." Source: The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Authors for Henryville: this fundraising effort is spearheaded by Julia Karr with help from fellow authors Mike Mullin, Ashley Hope Pérez, Christine Johnson, and Josie Bloss. Peek: "...working to raise funds for Henryville schools, which were destroyed by the March 2 tornadoes in Southern Indiana. All monies donated will either go to the rebuilding of the school libraries or to the Red Cross (it's the schools' choice!)Meanwhile... We're asking for your help! Pledge book(s) and/or book swag to be given away as one of the prizes in a drawing from the names of those who donate to the Henryville cause."

To me, the magic feels like a curse. According to the Brothers, it's devil-sent. Women who can do magic – they're either mad or wicked. So I will do everything in my power to protect myself and my sisters. Even if it means giving up my life – and my true love.

Because if the Brothers discover our secret, we're destined for the asylum, or prison...or death.

Could you describe both your pre-and-post contract revision process? What did you learn along the way? How did you feel at each stage? What advice do you have for other writers on the subject of revision?

Pre-contract, my revisions were pretty minimal. I cut the first chapter because my agent worried it was too slow a start (and then put it back in later at my editor’s request. Revisions are so subjective!). I added more of Cate’s internal thoughts to make it clear she wasn’t just trying to boss her sisters around out of spite. When the book went out on submission, I was hopeful; writing it had been very joyful, and I felt prouder of it than anything else I had written.

My edit letter was challenging; I had never received such detailed critique (or, to be fair, such detailed praise). My editor, Arianne Lewin at Putnam, is brilliant and generous. We changed the ending, which sort of fizzled out a bit. I rewrote the last fifty pages to open it up more for the sequel. To heighten the urgency, we added the notion that Cate had to declare an intention to marry in three months. I added two key scenes, refined character relationships, and added a great deal of physical description of the dresses and decor.

Jessica's office

My early drafts are pretty spare. One of my favorite notes from my editor was to “ruffle my corsets” more, and at the line-edit stage she left dozens of in-text notes asking me to describe the curtains or the dress or where or how Cate was standing.

At one point I despaired that I couldn’t think of anything else for anyone to do with their hands; I had completely run out of words.

I had a tight two-month deadline for the first edits because Penguin wanted to do a bound manuscript for a BEA sales dinner, and then I had another month to do second edits, and I was still working at my day job part-time.

Ari was lightning-fast at turning things around. It was incredibly challenging, and there were certainly tears and moments of overwhelm – but I also felt like I also had this amazing team to help me. It wasn’t just my book anymore; it was ours, and I could turn to them when I needed them.

I feel like I’ve improved as a writer, having been edited in such depth; my first draft of the sequel had its problems, but it also had loads more description instead of people floating about in empty space.

As far as advice for other writers – it’s so easy to get caught up in that little anxious thrum of I can’t I can’t. How am I ever going to fix this? or I suck so much. How didn’t I see this before?

It helped me to take my ego out of it.

When the doubt monsters strike, I may not trust myself – but I trust my editor and my critique partners. I trust the quiet voice of my character.

I try to tune into Cate instead of my own neurotic drama.

Could you tell us the story of "the call" or "the email" when you found out that your book had sold? How did you react? How did you celebrate?

For context, it’s important to know that my first manuscript snagged me an awesome agent (Jim McCarthy at Dystel & Goderich) but never sold. It was out with editors for a somewhat agonizing nine months.

During that time, I wrote Born Wicked (then entitled Thrice Blessed). It went out on February 15, 2011. A week later, I was at my then-day job working as a receptionist/admin assistant for the Catholic University Press. I wasn’t expecting news yet.

When Jim called to tell me that we had lots of interest and that Penguin had made a major pre-empt, I was floored.

Literally. I sat on the floor and giggled hysterically and called my mom.

I told my coworkers, who sent someone out to buy pink champagne and then toasted me. It was very sweet. And my boss let me leave early so I could talk on the phone to the two Penguin editors still in the running and make my decision.

That evening I drank the rest of the pink champagne and had Thai food with my husband and my best friend. Then I bought a Betsey Johnson dress (she’s my favorite designer) and threw a little champagne-and-cupcakes party for my best friends at a local restaurant the next weekend.

As a fantasy writer, going in, did you have a sense of how events/themes in your novel might parallel or speak to events/issues in our real world? Or did this evolve over the course of many drafts?

Well, women’s rights are a pretty shockingly recent concept. It was vital to me to write about strong, clever, independent girls, and a natural conflict arose when I put them in a society that hates and fears strong women. I wanted to give them choices and show the consequences of those choices.

Jessica's cat Monkey in her office

Cate and her sisters and friends have to fight to be the women they want to be against all of Society’s shoulds. First, the Brotherhood tells them that witchery is wrong; that witches are all sinful, selfish creatures. Then other witches tell Cate that she should embrace her magic and her role in the coming war to do her duty by other girls like her. She might be able to change the world – but at a terrible price.

I think most change comes with a price. Cate really struggles to figure out what she wants, to weigh her responsibilities against what might make her happy. I think contemporary girls can relate to that. I can.

I think the biggest evolution was that, in earlier drafts, the Brothers were villainous, and the witches were less scheming and threatening. I hope that it’s less black and white now.

When the witches were in power, they did do some terrible things; the population’s fear of them is not unfounded. That makes it more interesting for the Cahill girls’ internal struggles with their magic, too.

Cynsational Notes & Giveaway

Jessica Spotswood grew up in a tiny one-stoplight town in Pennsylvania. Now she lives in a gentrifying hipster neighborhood in Washington, D.C. with her playwright husband and a cuddly cat named Monkey.

She's never happier than when she's immersed in a good story, and swoony kissing scenes are her favorite. Born Wicked is her debut novel.

Enter to win one of five ARCs of Born Wicked! To enter, comment on this post and include an email address (formatted like: cynthia at cynthialeitichsmith dot com) or a link to an email address. Or email Cynthia directly with "Born Wicked" in the subject line. (If you're on LiveJournal, you may likewise enter via comment at Cynsations LJ.) Publisher sponsored. Eligibility: U.S. Deadline: midnight CST March 26.

Monday, March 05, 2012

When I was younger I lived in a house crammed full of books. Both of my parents are avid readers, and I certainly inherited their bookworm gene. I loved escaping into the world of fiction, and the more I read, the more I wanted to create my own worlds of words for other people to enjoy.

Sadly, lack of confidence in my writing abilities meant that my writing dreams remained just dreams for many years.

But the thing about dreams is that they don’t go away that easily. Fictional characters would keep popping into my head like imaginary friends and life seemed full of plot ideas ripe for picking. So I would fill notebooks with these ideas. And then finally, when I was on maternity leave with my son, I decided to try actually writing a book.

I started with a nonfiction book, as it felt more within my comfort zone, but when that was published in 2000, I finally had the confidence to have a go at writing a novel for adults. To my shock and delight this novel went on to get me a three-book deal with a major U.K. publisher, and I felt as if my dream of becoming a successful author had finally been accomplished.

But it wasn’t that straightforward. After disappointing sales for my third novel, I was dropped by my publisher. It’s funny how something that can feel like the end of the world at the time can end up being one of the best things to have happened to you with the benefit of hindsight.

At Paris Book Fair.

Being dropped by my publisher led me to start running workshops and coaching other writers. And this led to me becoming a writer in residence at a local high school. Teaching writing to students reminded me of the passion I used to have for books and writing when I was younger. I loved the enthusiasm and energy with which teenagers would approach their writing, and it was infectious.

Before long, I had an idea for a YA novel and writing it was nothing at all like writing my adult fiction. Whereas writing for adults had felt laborious at times, writing about teenagers felt like second nature. Clearly I am still very much a fourteen-year-old at heart! The book flowed, and creatively it was the most enjoyable experience of my writing career.

Literally, the day I finished the novel I got an email from a friend saying that a U.K. children’s publisher was actively seeking new writers. I quickly emailed the first three chapters off to the commissioning editor, and she replied immediately asking to see the rest of it.

I was offered a two-book deal within a couple of weeks. But before I’d signed the contract the publisher started back-tracking on what they’d originally offered me financially. Still feeling jaded from my experience with my previous publisher, I withdrew the book. And then I made a decision that would go on to change my writing career beyond recognition – I decided to self-publish.

I self-published Dear Dylan in April 2010 and, thanks to some wonderful reviews on YA blogging sites, it started to create a bit of an online buzz. Then one day at work I read about a U.K. book award called Young Minds that were looking for entries. I knew that most national awards didn’t accept self-published books but I figured I had nothing to lose, so I posted them a copy.

I was delighted when I heard that it had been accepted into the competition. And even more delighted when it was long-listed. That to me felt as good as winning. So I was absolutely ecstatic when it made it to the shortlist of six. All the other books on the list were from major publishers, so it was a massive boost to my confidence.

And then, in a fairytale ending, Dear Dylan actually won the Young Minds Book Award.

The whole experience was a fantastic lesson in never giving up on your dreams – and how if one path becomes blocked you should simply find another. Winning the award has transformed my writing career. Dear Dylan went to auction in the U.K., and I ended up with two-book deals in the U.K., France and Germany. It is being published by Egmont U.K. this April, with my second YA novel, Finding Cherokee Brown being published in April 2013.

I am now writing a YA series with a TV tie-in, which is massively exciting, and three days a week I work as an editorial consultant for a London-based company, helping bring younger children’s books to life. It feels wonderful to have come full circle, from a book-loving kid to a creator of children’s fiction.

Finally, I can say that my dream really has come true.

Max editing.

Cynsational Notes

Siobhan Curham lives in a village just outside of London with her teenage son –
who is mad about football, and her rescue dog, Max – who has a phobia
of footballs!

She dreams of one day living in America, which is where
her grandma was from, and she goes to visit her family there every
chance she can.

Siobhan contributes news and interviews from the children's-YA creative, literature and publishing community in the U.K.

See the link for the whole scoop on entering to win today's giveaway of a manuscript edit (first chapter or whole picture book) and Saturday's grand prize, a full manuscript edit from DearEditor. Deadline: midnight PST tonight, March 5. Eligibility note: any category (fiction or non-fiction), published for young readers or grown-ups.

As a writer, a professor of library science, a blogger and an anthologist, you have devoted yourself to the celebration and promotion of poetry for young people. What role did poetry play in your own childhood? How did that interest continue to develop?

My parents were new immigrants from Germany, so German was my first language. Rhymes and poems helped me to learn—and enjoy—my new language, English. I felt tuned in to the music of language—how words sounded in German and English—and I still enjoy the sound qualities of poetry, in particular.

In school, I enjoyed hearing poetry read aloud by teachers and librarians (again, that pleasure in the spoken word), but I didn’t seek it out to read in print, although I was an avid reader.

I found an outlet in writing poetry in my angst-filled teen years, and in college, I had a knack for analyzing poetry. (I was good at identifying the appropriate symbolism!)

I taught sixth grade in the late 1970s and shared all kinds of books with my students. Shel Silverstein was a new author, and I saw firsthand what a huge hit his work was with my students. That led me deep into exploring contemporary poetry for kids—and I haven’t quit since!

What are some of the new and innovative ways in which librarians and teachers are promoting poetry?

Teachers and librarians who love poetry have long been creative in getting kids excited about poetry—from creating classroom poetry cafés, complete with tablecloths and bongos, to holding open mike readings, to filling school hallways with favorite poem displays, to starting the school day with a school-wide poem to linking poetry across the curriculum.

I’m also so excited to see more multicultural poetry on the docket, including bilingual works by Jorge Luján and Jorge Argueta.

You have worked hard to raise the public’s awareness of poetry awards. Why are these awards so important, and what can the reading public do to support them?

Yes, I do believe promoting the awards is critical primarily because we work in such an award-conscious culture. Awards help people notice poetry.

The downside is that awards by their very nature recognize only a few books, so many wonderful works of poetry don’t get the attention they deserve. That’s one reason that I try to promote lists, rather than single titles alone, to give a taste of the poetry diversity that is possible and available.

I would love it if the reading public would take notice of the poetry awards, buy multiple copies of each winner and honor book, and then hold their own “mock” awards to get kids (and families) reading and talking about even more poetry.

Could you talk a bit about the challenges that both new and established poets face at this time, both in terms of getting published and getting their poetry into the hands of readers?

Yes, there are so many challenges in poetry publishing—getting it accepted and published to begin with, then getting the book sold and promoted, too. Most poets are now heavily involved in the “after” part, using web sites, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. to get the word out about their books. And it’s still a tough sell in a fiction-centric world!

As the writer Robert Graves noted, “There’s no money in poetry, but there’s no poetry in money either.”

Digital publishing offers promising opportunities for new writers and my collaborator, Janet Wong (herself a poet) and I have tried our hands at that. We published three e-book anthologies of poems by some of the biggest names in poetry for children (PoetryTagTime for kids, P*TAG for teens, and Gift Tag, holiday poems for all ages).

If it’s any consolation, poetry has the longest “shelf life” of all the genres, in my opinion. It has staying power. Just look at Mother Goose (1695), “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (1806), or even “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout/Would not take the garbage out” by Shel Silverstein (1974).

Poetry has legs. We just need to be sure not to cut it off at the knees by our short-sightedness!

A true story about a bear enlisted into the military would be beyond fascinating but that this took place during a world war and the bear, Voytek, traveled on such a long journey sounds like a fantasy. Have you ever read anything like it before?

I have to say that the story came as a complete surprise to me as well. I knew that army regiments sometimes have mascots, such as a goat or a dog, but a bear! I’d never heard of such a thing before.

Then I started looking into Voytek’s story and reading other books about him, and I was amazed to hear that this really was a true story. There are photographs of him and even short pieces of film footage on YouTube. It’s a fantastic story, and I’m pleased to have played a part in getting it out there.

And, of course, Voytek wasn’t the only animal in the camp. Kaska, the monkey, is also an important character, along with her baby, Kubus, and she actually existed, too. There’s a photo of the real Kaska and Kubus in the back of the book, along with the photos of Voytek.

After the war, Voytek went to live in Edinburgh Zoo, and I found out as I was translating the book that my Scottish mother-in-law had seen this famous bear at the zoo when she was a girl. It felt good to have a very vague personal connection to Voytek. I’m related to someone who actually saw him in real life!

What a wonderful personal connection to Voytek! Voytek was actually a soldier in the Polish military, yet traveled from Iran to Italy and then to Scotland with his group. What was it like to translate about such a diverse mix of cultures in a historical and wartime setting?

Ah, incidentally, at this point I should probably comment on the spelling of the bear’s name. Technically speaking, the correct Polish spelling is "Wojtek." However, his name was often written as "Voytek" in the English-speaking press, and we decided to retain that spelling for the book, as it’s probably easier for younger readers to handle.

Voytek’s friend Peter was also a "Piotr" in fact, but he’s often called "Peter" or "Pete" in the literature. It’s just one of those things that happen when you travel across borders and into different languages.

As for the setting, the focus of the book is on Voytek and his relationships with his friends and fellow soldiers and the other animals on the camp. He travels in a bubble, as part of a gang. There’s definitely a sense of moving and different environments in the book, though, and you can follow his movements on the maps: he travels a long way from his life in the desert as a cub, crossing the sea to Italy on a military ship, and serving as a soldier in Italy, before moving on to Scotland.

The most important thing is always his bond with his friends, but there are also some hilarious encounters with other people and animals. Voytek manages to capture a spy at one point (a true story) and lands himself in trouble with farmers in Italy and Scotland. His camping holiday with his friends in Italy was one of my favourite episodes. That poor goose!

Kathleen Merz who edited Soldier Bear wrote that the process of acquiring a book to be translated comes first with a synopsis and sample chapters provided by the publisher and next a readers report from a translator who speaks both languages. Do you ever create these reader reports for publishers? If so can you tell us about the process?

Yes, the typical route to translation will involve a report from a reader who is familiar with both languages and cultures, the source and the target. I write a number of these reports every year for various publishers in the U.K., U.S. and Australia. They’re usually a page or two, no longer than three pages, and will include a summary of the plot and the reader’s impression of the strengths and possible weaknesses of the book.

As a translator, I comment on whether I think the book would translate well or if there might be some cultural or linguistic issues that would prove tricky to get across.

I also like to provide a survey of how well the book has been received in its home country and in any other translations that have already come out.

One children’s-YA editor stressed to me that she’s particularly interested in hearing about the emotional impact of the book: what feeling does it leave you with?

She’s right. I often feel that my emotions on putting the book down are a good indicator of my feelings about the book as a whole – and whether I’d like to translate that particular book!

As a translator, it’s always best to read the actual book before you get started on the translation, so that you can form your own impression. I don’t need to see the reports; they’re just intended for the publishers.

Perhaps it’s also worth pointing out that these reports aren’t only written by translators, but also by interested readers who have an understanding of both markets. It’s just that translators are an obvious choice for the job, but often I’ll end up translating a book that I haven’t written a report on.

It’s a funny old process. The publishers from the various houses meet at the book fairs in, say, Bologna or Frankfurt and discuss the books that sound like interesting options for translation.

However, it’s most often the case that the English-speaking publisher can’t read the book in the original language, so they have to call in someone they trust for another opinion. Often, at this stage, they don’t even have sample translations to go on, so they have to rely on the reader.

One literary publisher is taking a new approach to the issue of acquiring titles for translation. And Other Stories led by Stefan Tobler, has formed reading groups to focus on particular languages. The groups read a number of books in the foreign language and then discuss the titles to see if there are any books that they’d like to put forward for translation. It seems like a great approach for finding good new books and means that the publisher doesn’t have to rely on just one or two readers’ opinions, which has to be healthy.

I haven’t heard of anyone doing something similar for children’s books though. Might be a fun idea!

Your experience includes translating a wonderful variety of books from novels for children and adults, graphic novels and nonfiction. What is the process like to make a work come to life in a new language?

When I’m translating, I translate what the author writes and aim to reflect the voice and atmosphere that he or she has chosen.

I read, think, put words down on the page, ponder, come back again, tweak, polish – pretty much the same process as most writers, I think.

However, you do of course have the figure of the author lurking in the background.

You have a responsibility to that person and you want to make certain that you do justice to their words, which sometimes involves asking for second opinions from friends and other translators, and perhaps getting in touch with the author if he or she is still alive.

What languages do you speak? Do you translate between each of these languages?

Hmm, well, probably about 80% of my translation work is from Dutch. I translate a wide variety of texts from Dutch, from children’s books and graphic novels to literature and texts about art. I’m probably more connected to the Dutch language and publishers because I live in Amsterdam.

However, I’ve also translated a number of children’s books from Italian and the occasional piece from German. German was always my first foreign language – it’s what I studied at school and university. I’ve also lived in various places in Germany, for about four years in total.

I only ever translate from the foreign language into my native tongue. There are plenty of native speakers of Dutch who can do a far better of translating into Dutch than I can! They’ve been speaking the language all their lives, after all.

What are the best and worst things about working as a translator? Is it solitary work like writing? What would you say is the difference between writing and translating?

Zorba guards the writing space.

Best thing: you get to work with books. I’ve always been a big reader and it’s wonderful to work with stories professionally. It’s always interesting to help bring different cultures together.

And most of the other translators, authors and publishers are really great people to work with, too, which is a huge plus point about the job.

I also love the fact that it’s a job you can do anywhere. I was recently translating a book about Berlin, and I took my laptop off to Berlin and spent six weeks there doing research and working on the translation.

Worst thing: it’s possibly the lack of recognition. Reading some reviews, you might think that a book gets magically translated into English at the press of a button in Google Translate.

I think that perhaps the funniest – you have to laugh – review of a translated book I ever saw included a great long list of facts at the beginning, including the name of the author (of course), publisher (yes), price (okay...), number of pages (hmm), font (maybe interesting from a design point of view), and type of paper used (huh?), but neglected entirely to mention the name of the translator, i.e. the person who had written every single word of the book that was being reviewed.

I laughed – and then I wrote a note to point out the critic’s omission. They were very apologetic, but said that it hadn’t actually occurred to them to mention the translator’s name. Sigh.

And then there are the occasions when the perceived weaknesses of a book are blamed on the translator. There’s honestly only so much you can tweak when you’re translating a book. You have various options at word and sentence level and you can spot consistency issues, but plot and character issues are generally out of the translator’s hands.

It’s so frustrating to see that tired old "lost in translation" line trotted out when you know how much work goes into the process of translation and how many tricky issues the translator has to solve.

Good and bad: yes, it’s a solitary profession like writing, but I don’t mind that so much. It can be a little difficult though, when you suddenly find yourself in company after a few days of battling away with a text and it feels as though you’ve forgotten how to talk properly to real people. You can find yourself getting a little too excited! Wheee!

Translators are a pretty friendly bunch, though, and a bunch of us use Facebook as a kind of water cooler, for sharing our news and just chatting about translation problems and other stuff.

Goodness knows how translators ever coped before the internet came along! And, of course, organisations like SCBWI are also fantastic for meeting other people who are enthusiastic about great stories and books.

Soldier Bear has certainly been recognized. How did you find out that this book had been awarded the Mildred L. Batchelder Award? What it is like to be an award winner?

Well, strictly speaking, the award goes to the publishing house, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, as recognition for their work in publishing translated books, but I’m delighted to have been involved in the process and so pleased that the book has been recognized by the American Library Association.

I heard about the award when Kathleen Merz from Eerdmans dropped me an excited email. It completely blew me away, as I had no idea that Soldier Bear was even up for the Batchelder. It had felt like just any other Monday afternoon up until that point.

Anyway, I was just in the middle of responding to Kathleen (I’m sure there were lots of exclamation marks involved...) when my SCBWI friend Roxie Munro messaged me and posted on Facebook to ask if I’d heard about the award. There was then a bit of a party on my Facebook page, and my husband and I went out for a couple of glasses of champagne that night.

Bibi Dumon Tak, the author of Soldaat Wojtek, the original Dutch book, also got in touch, which was actually our first contact. Of course, we’re both absolutely delighted that the bear is a winner.

Can you tell us a little bit about what you are working on now?

I’m currently translating a wonderful middle-grade book for Enchanted Lion in Brooklyn. It’s called Mr. Orange, and it’s written by a Dutch writer called Truus Matti and set in New York during the Second World War.

Linus, the protagonist, is a boy whose father runs a fruit and vegetable store. One of the customers on Linus’s fruit delivery route is an artist with whom he develops a close friendship. Linus calls him Mr. Orange, because of all the oranges he orders, but we later find out that he is in fact the artist Mondrian. Matti subtly tells the reader about just how innovative Mondrian’s art was, but she also creates a wonderfully rounded character in Linus through her depiction of his relationships with his friends and family, particularly his big brother, who has gone off to fight in Europe.

Comic books and superheroes are also very important to Linus and his brother, which is an element of the story that I’m really enjoying.

Mr. Orange sounds like it is packed with great characters. Can you recommend any resources for people who would like to know more about becoming a translator?

I’m a member of the Society of Authors, which has a section for translators (Translators’ Association) and also a children’s/YA section, CWIG, the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group. And, of course, there’s SCBWI. Both memberships are very useful, for professional advice and support from other writers/translators.

I also have a list of links on my website.
Translation is a great profession to work in. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys getting really, really wrapped up in stories.

Thanks so much for the interview, Angela. Hope to see you again in Amsterdam soon! Hey, how about paying another visit to our SCBWI chapter?

Laura, thank you for sharing your expertise. I dream of visiting Amsterdam again someday!

Cynsational Notes

Interview with Translator Laura Watkinson by Sarah Blake Johnson from Through the Tollbooth. Peek: "In this case of a picture book, that’s nice and easy – the translator
produces a translation of the whole text and the American publisher has
access to both the pictures and story and can assess the book there and
then. ...if a foreign-language publisher is trying to sell something
like a YA novel, it makes little financial sense for them to have the
whole book translated and time is also an issue, so they’ll usually have
just an excerpt translated to take along to the book fair."

Angela Cerrito writes by night and is a pediatric physical therapist by day.

Her debut novel The End of the Line (Holiday House, 2011) was selected for VOYA’s Top of the Top Shelf 2011 and Top Shelf for Middle Grade Readers 2011.

She is the Assistant International Advisor for SCBWI and regularly attends the Frankfurt and Bologna Book Fairs.

When she’s not writing, Angela enjoys eating, climbing in caves and
jumping off cliffs. She lives in Europe with her husband, two
daughters, a big black cat, a little white dog and a talking parrot.

Angela covers the children's-YA book scene in Europe and beyond for Cynsations. Read an interview with Angela.

and an awesome "Nerd Power" pin, which no self-respecting nerd should be without.

(Sumo wrestler not included.)

To enter, comment on this post and include an email address (formatted like: cynthia at cynthialeitichsmith dot com) or a link to an email address. Or email Cynthia directly with "Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen" in the subject line. (If you're on LiveJournal, I'm also taking entries via comment at the Cynsations LJ.)

Olivia Bean knows trivia. She watches "Jeopardy!" every night and usually beats at least one of the contestants. If she were better at geography, she would try out for the show’s kids’ week. Not only could she win bundles of money, she’d get to go to the taping in California, where her dad--who left two years ago and who Olivia misses like crazy--lives with his new family.

One day Olivia’s friend-turned-nemesis, Tucker, offers to help her bulk up her geography knowledge. Before Olivia knows it, she’s getting help from all sorts of unexpected sources: her almost-stepdad, superannoying Neil; her genius little brother, Charlie; even her stressed-out mom.

Soon she has breezed through the audition rounds and is headed for Hollywood! But will the one person she wants to impress more than anyone else show up to support her?

Enter to win a copy of Firelight or Vanish, both by Sophie Jordan (Harper) from Cynsations. To enter, comment on this post (click previous link and scroll) and include an email address (formatted like: cynthia at cynthialeitichsmith dot com) or a link to an email address. Please specify if you already own one of the books and are looking to win the other. Or email Cynthia directly with "Firelight," "Vanish" or "Firelight/Vanish," if you're
open to winning both, in the subject line. Author-sponsored. Eligibility: U.S. Deadline: midnight CST March 5.

Writing Guys: Tips from YA Author Jennifer R. Hubbard
from Laurel Garver at Laurel's Leaves. Peek: "...there are real
cultural differences. In our world, for example, aggression is still
encouraged, or at least tolerated, far more in boys than in girls. On
the other hand, talking about emotions is expected more of girls."

Who Thinks Picture Books are Just for Kids?
by Anna Cavallo from Lerner Publishing Group. Peek: "Picture books
texts, whether rhyming or not, involve a certain poetry. The more
limited the text, the more thought put in to each word selected and the
weaving of those words into a narrative."

2012-2013 Tejas Star Book Award List
from Regional One Education Center. Peek: "...to promote reading in general and for readers to discover the cognitive and economic benefits of bilingualism and multilingualism. All the children of Texas will have the opportunity to select their favorite book from the Tejas Star list...." Source: Lupe Ruiz-Flores.

Figment will acquire inkpop, the teen writing community from HarperCollins. Peek: "As Figment continues to establish itself as the premier creative social site for teens and young adults, this acquisition represents a major leap forward for us."

The Writing Process by Danyelle Leafty from QueryTracker.netBlog. Peek: "For me, character and plot aren't completely separate entities. Rather, they are two points on a continuum. Some stories will lean closer to the character side, while others will lean nearer to the plot end."

Help Is Here: Eliminating Author Anxiety by Kristi Holl from Writers First Aid. Peek: "I found some blog posts by agents and former agents that will lower your
blood pressure, reduce your writing anxiety, make you more
optimistic–and maybe even make you laugh."

Alliteration Always Annoys by Mary Kole from Kidlit.com. Peek: "A lot of people seem to think that the bulk of their characterizing work
or word choice craft in picture books comes down to alliterating. And
that’s it. Just name him Sammy Skunk and kick up your feet because your
work here is done! Right? Not quite."

Weenies Topical & Literary Index from David Lubar. Peek: "Yes, there are anthropomorphic hot dogs on the covers, but they conceal a broad and deep variety of short fiction....find the perfect story for any classroom need."

Cynsational Blogger Tip: any time you mention a book, be sure to include the publisher's name. This information can be quite helpful to event planners, librarians, and readers seeking more information and resources.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Middle Grade and Were Willing to Ask: a conversation between literary agent Michael Bourret and editor Molly O'Neill from Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. Peek: "...there can be a fine line between stories that feel familiar and those
that feel, well, dull. This is a big reason I often encourage my authors
to push past their initial ideas and explore the unknown creative wilds
beyond the very first idea/solution/problem/mystery/story point/etc
that they think of – because often the really fresh ideas live deep in
writer’s minds, not at the very forefront."

Interview: Trend Spotter: A Sneak Peek at 2012's Top Kids' Books by Laura Weiss from School Library Journal. Peek: "Nonfiction is the most requested genre, specifically, science,
biographies, and history. We also get many requests for graphic novels
and fantasies and, for high schools, historical fiction." Notes: (a) an interview with Susan Marston, editorial director of Junior Library Guild (JLG), (b) Susan mentions YA historical fiction, but Cynsations is seeing an uptick in middle grade historicals as well. Check out some of this week's new voices posts, for examples.

Enter to win a copy of Firelight or Vanish, both by Sophie Jordan (Harper). To enter, comment on this post (click previous link and scroll) and include an email address (formatted like: cynthia at cynthialeitichsmith dot com) or a link to an email address. Please specify if you already own one of the books and are looking to win the other. Or email Cynthia directly with "Firelight," "Vanish" or "Firelight/Vanish," if you're open to winning both, in the subject line. Author-sponsored. Eligibility: U.S. Deadline: midnight CST March 5.

Beyond that, I thrilled to report that my revised draft of "Smolder" is off to my Candlewick editor, Deborah Wayshak. Yesterday's highlight was receiving an email from Deb calling me "the world's BEST reviser" and saying that the revision had a "grand polish." It's off to the copy editor!

Dino-Mite! An Exclusive Interview with Greg Leitich Smith by Susan VanHecke from Authorlink. Peek: "I had to pick a time and place and ecosystem. Fortunately, I knew enough
by then that Texas had a terrific Late Cretaceous dinosaur population
including tyrannosaurs and some of the last sauropods, like Alamosaurus. It also had some amazing non-dinosaur fauna."

Book Reviews and More says of Chronal Engine: "It was incredibly well written. I found it hard to put the book down the few times that I had to while reading it. The characters were amazing, and the loops in the story and the logic behind them was stunning. The way Greg has scripted this story sets it up for a number of wonderful reads in the same world." More on Chronal Engine.

Note: Due to volume, I can't feature the author/illustrator events of all of my Cynsational readers, but if you're Austin bound for an appearance here, let me
know, and I'll try to work in a shout out or two.

About

New York Times & Publishers Weekly best-selling, award-winning author the Tantalize series, the Feral series and other critically acclaimed fiction for young readers. MFA Faculty, Vermont College of Fine Arts. Board member, We Need Diverse Books. Ohonvyetv!